Win VIP Tickets to Pairings 2012, New Times Food and Wine Event

The kids are finally back in school and out of your house after a long hot summer vacation. And while school might not be a child's favorite way to spend a day, most kids at least find the first week back to be exciting. It's kind of like the way you probably look forward to New Times' fifth annual Pairings event -- and if you aren't, you should.

Every year around this time - and this year on September 13th specifically -- New Times gathers together the finest, oldest, and newest local restaurants and asks them to offer up a signature dish. It is then paired with a wine carefully selected by the proprietor of boutique wine shop Wine Watch. This year, more than 40 local dining establishments will be represented and we're offering you a chance to win your way in.

While Pairings is strictly 21 and over, a kid still has to eat and Little Johnny's lunch bag could help you win a pair of VIP tickets.

How? Draw us a picture. Preferably on a lunch bag. That's right -- show us your very best lunch bag art, and we might pick you to win a pair of Pairings passes. If you don't have any school kids, you can still enter -- just do your doodling on a cocktail napkin.

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Check out LunchBagArt dad Derek Benson's blog for inspiration. But you don't have to be Rembrandt to win this contest. We appreciate effort and creativity. The winner will be announced Friday morning. Share your entry in the comments email it here, or share it on Instagram with the hashtag, #CleanPlateCharlie.

Visit the official Pairings page for more information. General admission is $50 online (until noon September 13) or $60 at

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Rebecca McBane is the arts and culture/food editor for New Times Broward-Palm Beach. She began her journalism career at the Sun Sentinel's community newspaper offshoot, Forum Publishing Group, where she worked as the editorial assistant and wrote monthly features as well as the weekly library and literature column, "Shelf Life." After a brief stint bumming around London's East End (for no conceivable reason, according to her poor mother), she returned to real life and South Florida to start at New Times as the editorial assistant in 2009. A native Floridian, Rebecca avoids the sun and beach at all costs and can most often be found in a well-air-conditioned space with the glow of a laptop on her face.